In honour of World Mental Health Awareness Month, the Open Language Initiative (OLI) led a translation drive focused on mental health. This campaign aimed to bring accurate, accessible information on mental health conditions to underrepresented communities around the world.

The OLI x WikiMed Mental Health Translation Drive was part of OLI’s broader collaboration with the Healthcare Translation Task Force of Wiki Project Med Foundation (WPMEDF), a global initiative working to make reliable, evidence-based medical information accessible to everyone — no matter what language they speak. Throughout May, the Translation Drive focused on translating essential WikiMed articles covering mental health topics that impact millions globally but remain poorly represented in many languages.

Breaking Through Language Barriers

The drive contributed to OLI’s ongoing mission to promote multilingualism. By translating articles on mental health-related topics, volunteers helped:

• people seeking to understand symptoms and treatments in their native language,
• educators and caregivers who rely on open-access resources to support communities, and
• global health campaigns working to reduce stigma and promote informed mental wellbeing.

Volunteer-Led, Impact-Focused

A total of 51 volunteers joined the effort in May, contributing translations mainly in the following languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• French
• Galician
• Indonesian
• Pashto
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Sinhala
• Spanish
• Thai
• Turkish

This diverse linguistic coverage reflected the campaign’s commitment to inclusivity and its global reach.

About the Healthcare Translation Task Force

The Healthcare Translation Task Force, also known as WikiProject Med, is a collaborative initiative hosted on Wikipedia. Its goal is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their language, has access to reliable health information.

Translating medical content is crucial because most healthcare information online is in English and often locked behind copyright. By working with open-licensed platforms like MDWiki — a medical-focused version of Wikipedia — volunteers help bring vital health knowledge to under-resourced languages. 

OLI’s partnership with the WikiMed project exemplifies its dedication to supporting public health through language. By contributing to this initiative, OLI volunteers helped make Wikipedia a more inclusive resource for individuals worldwide.

Although the May translation drive has concluded, OLI continues to support WikiMed project and welcomes new volunteers to contribute to its ongoing health translation work. This campaign was a powerful reminder that access to knowledge — in any language — can be a force for dignity, understanding, and change.

To learn more about OLI’s ongoing efforts or to get involved visit https://olangi.org/join-the-oli-community/volunteer.